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A conversation with Vikings TE Vishante Shiancoe

By Ian Allen

What is he,… fun loving, too serious, happy or angry. Most people would agree that Vishante Shiancoe is a lot closer to the lighter side of life and happiness.

I want to paint you a picture of Shiancoe 1st so you can understand where I am coming from. During training camp when we were teammates, he had a special ritual that he would do at the lunch table loud and clear in front of 5-10 other players. He’d grab his lunch, set it down on the table, and proceed to picking up his knife and fork and cling them together as if he were sharpening his utensils, then he would slam his hands down (with the knife in one hand and the fork in the other), and take a deep breath with a serious and stern look on his face, and look right and left at his mates and say in a loud commanding voice as if he were a king from the medieval times, “Gentleman….Shall We!” And that was his confirmation that we can all eat. It still has me laughing right now, but if you didn’t get it, you had to be there, or maybe one day I could show you.

But this week I spoke with Vishante Shiancoe about a couple of more serious topics in that who or what was his main catalyst that influenced him to play football and about his new role as a full time starter in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings respectively, and he replied by saying with a level of conviction, his high school coach.

“Basically…he let me be a man, and he would correct me when I was wrong and would give me advice on what to do and what not to do, but he allowed me to make my own decisions, and I turned out pretty good man….And also I kept trying to play wide receiver and he kept telling me that I am a tight end, and of course me being young I wanted to catch the ball, and didn’t want to get dirty like that (referring to the tight end position), and he basically convinced me that’s what I needed to and that’s what I went to college and played and now I am a starter in the NFL, so I thank him for that.”

I would have to concur with Shiancoe on that because my high school coach as well was my main catalyst, and he really challenged us to be men and to hold ourselves accountable and to force you to be a leader. That’s why I don’t understand Pac Man Jones, because we’re from the same high school, but that’s a totally different subject.

When asked about his new role as a starter, Shiancoe replied by saying, “I’m excited about that because I have been waiting for this for a long time. I am happy that I am being counted on as a starter.” I also asked him about his time in NY as a back up behind Pro Bowler Jeremy Shocky, and replied “I mean,…that was my role and I excepted it, and I did my best as a backup.” I for one am personally elated for Shiancoe, because he is a hard worker, and definitely deserves the added responsibility.

In the rest of our conversation, Shiancoe was being Shiancoe and he gave some further insight on what his TRUE position should be and that’s Quarterback (and he says that with a laugh), and he said we should expect a lot more improvement from the Minnesota Vikings in the near future.

Ian Allen played offensive line in the NFL for six seasons, primarily with the New York Giants. He now hosts an NFL radio program on www.colourfulradio.com, Mondays, 3:00 p.m. EST